KIWI RIDER 08 2019 VOL.2 | Page 43

RR300 I forgot – the balance shaft, yes, it works very nicely. I recall a ride on the RR300 a couple of years ago and while I marvelled in the ridiculous traction that bike found, it felt pretty, er, simple? It vibrated and made a fair bit of noise. I couldn’t argue with its performance, but it was a kind of bare bones experience after riding a TPi. The new counter-balancer really takes that edge off, civilises the two-strokes (along with the oil injection – no premixing). Again, in previous years I’ve found the chassis set-up with Betas a bit unusual and on something as potent as the RR300 that can be an issue. But now, especially with the suspension dialled in for faster riding, the feeling for the bike is much more modern and confidence inspiring, for the amateur rider particularly. That world champion chap Steve Holcombe flies on his RR300, and riding this bike you can see why. For a 300 it’s relatively easy to ride, yet still flies and there isn’t a cliff it can’t climb. The feeling for the 300 is much more modern and confidence inspiring KIWI RIDER 43